Locals team up to feed Harvey first responders, survivors

“Operation Seadrift, TX” is underway to feed barbecue meals to Hurricane Harvey first responders and survivors in coastal town

Robert Hyden (left), John Solis (center) and Bobby Hyden (right) are taking their barbecue pit trucks to Seadrift, Texas, where they plan to cook and serve meals to first responders and survivors in the area, Wednesday, Aug. 30.

Photo by NICK BROTHERS

Bobby Hyden shows a portion of the 800 pounds of food stores to be cooked for first responders and survivors in Seadrift, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 30.

Photo by NICK BROTHERS

Bobby Hyden walks among the barbecue pits on “John Beere,” a barbecue food truck that will be serving up meals for first responders and survivors in Seadrift, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 30.

Photo by NICK BROTHERS

Posted
Thursday, August 31, 2017 11:06 am

By NICK BROTHERS, HCN Managing Editor

A group of central Texans and about 800 pounds of pork, chicken, sausage, eggs and two big barbecue pit trucks to cook it all left for Seadrift, Texas Wednesday. The plan is to provide disaster relief from Hurricane Harvey and feed anyone in the coastal town who's hungry.

Robert and Bobby Hyden, of Leander, and John Solis, of Bertram, teamed up with their stocked barbecue pit trucks — “Bob’s Bar” and “John Beere” — and filled a trailer with two pallets of bottled water to provide to local police and survivors devastated by Hurricane Harvey's unprecedented floods. The group is calling the effort “Operation Seadrift, TX”.

Robert Hyden said he predicts they will be able to share about 800 meals. The plan is to provide barbecue plates, as well as breakfast tacos, fruit, granola bars and various snacks for children.

“We’re going to feed anyone who’s left down there and willing to eat,” Hyden said. “We’re going to go down there and do our part.”

As the two loaded up supplies before heading out to the coast, Hyden said a woman at the Leander H-E-B saw them fueling up their trucks and generators and she offered to cover the rest of their cost — about $85.

The two have done similar relief efforts in the past. The two drove out to Baton Rouge in 2011 to help with the Mississippi River floods.

“We love doing this kind of stuff,” Hyden said. “We can help these little bitty towns, they need help too.”

Seadrift is about 33 miles southeast of Victoria, Texas, right on the coast. It was among some of the first few towns to get hit by the storms. The town is without electricity and under a boil order, according to local reports. The “Operation Seadrift, TX” group said they plan to stay until they run out of food supplies, which could take as many as five days.

“We have friends down there who say it’s so bad it’s like a warzone, that there’s nothing,” he said. “Whatever the people need, we’re going to try and get down there and get whatever we can to them.”